Bradbury Thompson is originally from Topeka, Kansas. Though he is known as an ingenious designer he has a degree in economics, which he accredits to helping him communicate to mass cultures better. Thompson taught at Yale’s School of Art and Architecture with a concentration on type and its importance in an array of situations. He has also written many periodicals and headed many magazines in more than one language, checking for both the content and how it is presented.
His design work is mostly renowned for the use of typography in integration with bold colors and unexpected imagery. Thompson’s most infamous piece was his monalphabet, also known and alphabet 26, where he capitalized some letter while left others in lowercase so the letters became more intuitive and easier to learn as a child. In his version of the alphabet the letters are sans serif and the capitals are just bigger versions of the lower case letters. 
The colors of the monalphabet each stand for different things. The black letters are those that he kept the same. The blue are those he thought were better as lower case and the green were the letters that are virtually the same in upper and lower case.
A spread Thompson did for Westvaco Magazine, of which he did many spreads for. Westvaco was published by West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, and was revered for many publishing many breakthrough designs.
All if the above were spreads Thompson did for Westvaco. They all use simple colors and elements to create dynamic images. Thompson used the basic elements of design to extremes and created an infamous and outstanding style.
By Jenn Contois
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